


Just How the Story Goes

by Cerillen



Series: Chronicles of an Anxious Protector [7]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: And I'm a liar, But it's okay, Cus he loves them too much to cause them harm, Cus the others are there to care for him, He is not as kind to himself tho, He's just not dangerous to his famILY, I know exactly where this came from, I wonder where that came from, It's also the start of Thomas filming Sanders Sides, Look it's the Accepting Anxiety arc, This is what happens when I try to rewatch the series, Virgil is totally dangerous, also also, which is unfortunate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-16 13:07:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18094877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerillen/pseuds/Cerillen
Summary: Now that they've started a series all about Thomas' Sides, Roman wants to bring in Anxiety to act as the villain he still pretends to be.And he may be secretly hoping that showing the darker side the differences between how they act around him in the series and how they act around him in real life, will make him realize that he doesn't really need to act at all anymore.Unfortunately, Anxiety is a little more stubborn than he gave him credit for.





	Just How the Story Goes

“He’s not gonna do it.”

“Oh c’mon, Roman! You don’t know that!”

“I **do** know that. He never even **likes** my ideas to begin with!”

“Although I do agree that we do not know how he’ll feel about being a part of this project, I must disagree with you saying he doesn’t like any of your ideas. In actuality, he approves of over sixty-eight percent of those you propose and only disagrees with the other thirty-two because he deems them too hazardous for Thomas’ health and well-being.”

“…I hate it when you talk statistics…”

“He does have a good point, Roman. I mean, he approved of the idea in the first place.”

“Well…yeah. But he only did that **before** we decided he should be included in the actual videos! He doesn’t even like coming out when you’re around other people normally! He’s not going to agree to standing in front of a camera while talking about feelings with someone he’s never even met before!”

“But he’s been in Thomas’ videos before!”

“Yeah! Talking to one of us! And he usually agrees just to mess with me!”

“Now, Roman-“

“Patton, you are not Deceit! Do **not** lie to me! You know just as well as I do, just as well as **everyone** here does, that he is difficult during recordings on purpose!”

“Well…”

“Patton, we had to rerecord everything on Saturday **three times** because he kept mocking me in the background of every. Single. Shot.”

“Heh. I mean, that **was** pretty funny though.”

“That’s not the **point** , Patton!”

“I think it…kind of is, Roman.”

“What?”

“I mean, okay, sure, maybe he seems reluctant to join in on the recordings at first, but he really does seem to enjoy himself when we actually start working. I don’t see why this has to be any different from that.”

“…I made him the villain…”

“…Roman-“

“I know he’s played the part before, I’m not going to deny that. But…as exaggerated as the roles may be…this series is about us. And everything we do to help Thomas get through life. And I made him the villain…”

“Aw, kiddo…”

“Things have been getting better recently. He’s more willing to spend time with us and work with us on projects. He’s been acting less like the bad guy lately and more like…himself. I don’t want to ruin that by forcing him to take on that role again just for the sake of a video idea.”

“You won’t be forcing him. If he doesn’t want to participate then he will tell us as much. And…I don’t think you’ll be ruining anything if you ask this of him. No. No, listen to me for a moment, Roman. After spending as much time with him as I have recently, I believe that I have a firm enough grasp of his personality to at least say this. (Un-individual/another person)Despite how poorly we treated him, he still cares for us a great deal. He only seems to take on the role of villain to keep us all in line when we refuse to listen to him. He knows this, I’m sure. So I very much doubt that asking him to adorn this role for the sake of a video will make him believe that we hate him.”

“I…I suppose you may be right…”

“Besides all of that, this series is meant to be about us, correct?”

“Yeah…”

“Then we cannot simply reject our old actions because they make us uncomfortable. We were downright cruel to him when he first manifested, and continued to be so for many years after. Acting as though that never happened, even in the context of an exaggerated web series, is cowardly and unjust. If we want to tell the story properly, then we must include all of our shortcomings as well as our strong points.”

“…yes. Yes, you’re right. I know that you’re right…”

“It’s okay to be worried, Roman. I know you just don’t want to hurt him. But I think that it’ll be okay. He’ll understand. You know that, right?”

“I…yes. Yes, I know that.”

“And, I mean, if he gets really uncomfortable or something then you can always just apologize to him.”

Roman sighed, his shoulders slumping as he calmed down a little, Thomas sending him a shrug with his words from his spot on the couch.

“Right. Yes, alright, fine. You’re all right. It’ll be fine. Right?”

Maroon colored eyes flickered briefly between them all with the smallest amounts of lingering uncertainty.

Patton smiled, Logan nodded, and Thomas stood up to place a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, it’ll be alright. So go ahead and call him, okay?”

With a final bracing breath, and the purposeful straightening of his spine, Roman nodded and made a tugging gesture towards the bottom of the stairs.

“Anxiety!”

He felt one of the ever-present tethers in his chest tightening as he spoke, pulling taut between him and his shadowy counterpart as his own side tugged gently at the other.

Then the tether went slack and the embodiment of Thomas’ survival instinct appeared before them with a whoosh, settling comfortably on the staircase like he’d been sitting there the entire time.

“Yo.”

“Hi, Anxiety!”

Patton’s excited wave and shout were received with a smile.

“Hey, Pat.”

“Hello, Anxiety.”

Logan’s respectful nod was returned in kind.

“Sup, Logic.”

“How ya doing, Anxiety?”

Thomas’ warm words were answered with a shrug.

“I’m fine if you’re fine, big guy.”

“Good evening, Anxiety.”

And Roman’s stiffer than usual greeting was met with a raised eyebrow and suspicious violet eyes.

“Evening, Princey. Not that I particularly mind or anything but, do you wanna tell me why it is that you summoned me right now? I thought you guys were planning out the script for your next Sides video.”

A very awkward silence descended then as Roman hesitated to answer while the others all waited patiently for him to do so.

Then the prince walked rigidly over to the lounging side on the stairs and fell abruptly to his knees in front of him.

The others all stared in shock while Anxiety barely reacted at all, his eyes only becoming slightly more suspicious at the increasingly familiar gesture.

Roman’s eyes suddenly looked up to lock onto his own, filled with determination and fear, and Virgil kind of hated the fact that he already knew what his answer was going to be before the other even made his request.

“I want you to be in the videos with us.”

Anxiety grimaced.

“Ugh, seriously?”

The creative side’s fists were shaking at his sides, the fear in his eyes only increasing and making Virgil worry a little about what exactly was freaking the other out so much.

“It’s a series about us.”

That statement was met with a huff of air and a roll of violet eyes.

“I know but-“

“I want you to play the villain!”

The air seemed to grow thick in the tense silence that followed Roman’s shouted words.

Nobody moved and everyone watched quietly as Anxiety simply gazed back at the prince at his feet with a blank expression.

“What?”

His voice held no anger, but Roman still flinched, regardless.

“The series is about us and everything we do for Thomas. You’re Anxiety. People see you as an illness. As something to be feared and repressed.”

Maroon eyes briefly looked down as the painful words left his lips.

When they returned to meet the other’s again, they were burning with a passionate fire that left Virgil twitching at the intensity.

“And while that may be true for some, I know that it’s not for Thomas. So I want you to act as the villain, as you normally do, so that we can show people that you’re not actually dangerous, even when you seem to be.”

A swell of pride rose in Thomas’ chest at his creative side’s words.

Everyone remained silent, waiting patiently for Anxiety’s reaction.

Then the shadowy side leaned forward, until he was looming threateningly above the still determined looking side below him.

The shadows around him darkened and grew, his eyes glowing faintly as the eyeshadow below them thickened.

**_“Oh, I’m not, am I?”_ **

The words rumbled through the house, sending shivers through everyone’s spines.

But burning ruby eyes remained honest and determined as Roman remained unflinchingly on his knees.

“You’re not. You were never dangerous, Anxiety. I know that now. And I want everyone else to know that too.”

For a moment, nothing changed.

Roman’s eyes burned as Anxiety’s cut into them like glowing shards of violet glass, the air around them both thick and suffocating in its intensity.

“Oh.”

Then, like a switch had been flipped, it all went away.

The shadows returned to normal, Anxiety’s eyes lost their glow, and the dark side settled back onto the stairs with an exasperated sigh.

“Alright, alright, I get it. You don’t have to keep convincing me.”

Roman blinked in shock as he slowly tried to understand what was happening with the sudden shift the conversation had taken.

Then he perked up so quickly, Virgil could easily visualize ears pointing straight up on the prince’s head.

“Wait, you’ll do it?! Really?!”

Anxiety huffed and rolled his eyes, waving a hand at the other as answered.

“Yeah, I’ll play the villain in your series. I just have to act like myself anyways so it’s not like it’s a huge hassle or anything.”

His hand was suddenly taken by another, familiar, set as the creative side beamed excitedly at him.

“Thank you, Anxiety! This is exactly what the series needs to be perfect! Everyone loves a good villain, after all!”

Virgil had to resist the urge to ruffle the other’s hair at his delighted words, this **was** still a meeting after all.

Instead, he just hummed out his agreement as the other finally rose up and started rambling excitedly to everyone about his plans with Anxiety as the villain.

The shadowy side stood up too, leaning casually against the banister as he did so, watching the others in silence for a moment before deciding to speak up.

“You’re still wrong though.”

Roman froze in his tracks and turned to the anxious side with his brows furrowed slightly in confusion.

“About what?”

Anxiety simply smirked, sharp fangs on display as he spoke with an intimidating gleam in his eyes.

“I **am** dangerous.”

And the prince scoffed, rolling his eyes and smirking back.

“You’re so overdramatic, Doctor Gloom. We haven’t even started recording yet, you don’t have to act like the villain all the time.”

The words held a hidden meaning behind them, Virgil knew.

But, for now, he ignored it.

“Wonder where I got it from. Must be contagious or something.”

Patton giggled, Thomas snorted, and Logan let out an already tired sigh.

“You two are spending far too much time with each other.”

Roman gave an exaggerated gasp and held a hand against his chest.

“How **dare** you imply such a thing! I am a gift to be around and anyone would be lucky to spend time with someone as wonderful as moi!”

“Debatable.”

This time Logan snorted as Thomas and Patton both laughed while Roman let out an even more exaggerated gasp of offence in reaction to Anxiety’s statement.

And Virgil smiled, just a little, as he let himself enjoy the comforting atmosphere.

Acting as himself for once, instead of the villain he’d built himself up to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, back in the mindscape, Deceit is enjoying some free time in the common area.  
> Wrapped up in a blanket cocoon and watching a movie while eating some chocolate ice cream, taking over Virgil's spot on the couch after he's called away by the others for a reason Dee doesn't really care enough to worry about currently.  
> He's a little disappointed to lose his cuddle buddy, but he understands that sometimes the others need Virgil to help them make decisions when they can't seem to settle on one themselves.  
> And Dee COULD try to help, but he is more useful in very specific situations and prefers to simply let everyone else deal with the usual day to day business while he works on his own monumental task of organizing all of Thomas' memories in the archives.  
> So he stays exactly where he is until the movie ends and he has to get back to his work so that Patton can get thru his own work before it gets too backed up.  
> Leaving behind a nest of rumpled blankets on the couch and a mostly empty carton of ice cream in the freezer.  
> (Just wanted to mention what Dee was up to while all of this chapter was going on. He's not missing cus I forgot him. I just figured it'd make more sense for this to be a discussion he'd sit out of.)


End file.
